His to Cherish

by Stacey Lynn

  We hadn’t even eaten our dinner yet and it was already the best date of my life. While we ate, our conversation flowed the same way it always had…easily, smoothly, and we avoided the hard topics until I could no longer stand it.

  I was dying to know how he was doing after his week and time with Mandy. Now that I understood more, I wanted to know everything.

  “So how was cleaning out Derrick’s room?” I asked when we finished our meal.

  I couldn’t imagine.

  I’d never be able to imagine. The thought sank to my stomach like a lead anchor.

  “I’m sorry,” I said before he could answer. “I don’t…it was probably horrible and a stupid question.”

  Aidan nodded. “It was horrible. But good, too, I think, in a way. Painful, and yet I sat in his room, laughing about photos he’d taken, memories with his friends, guys’ weekends we used to take in the summer.” He looked away and took a slow drink from his beer. Sorrow began to slide the light out of his eyes. “Derrick was a great kid, and fuck if I didn’t have a blast raising him. There are so many good things to remember.” He shook his head and paused, swallowing thickly. “Wise beyond his years, smart as a whip…I’m lucky he was mine.”

  “Yeah,” I choked out over a lump in my throat. “You know who else is lucky?”

  He slid his eyes back to meet mine, and I felt the edges of my lips curl up into a grin.

  “Me,” I said when he arched a brow in question. “I’m lucky to be here with you.”

  —

  My feet pounded the pavement and I looked into the stands, remembering that it had been just yesterday that Aidan and I had sat there and it had been just last night that he’d taken me to Rube’s.

  “Where are you?” Camden asked, her voice panting lightly next to mine.

  We were doing our weekly long run in preparation for an upcoming 10K race, but the steak last night must have been too much food. I was dragging slowly behind Camden, whom I could usually outpace, or at least match.

  My mind simply wasn’t on the run. It was stuck back in the kiss Aidan and I had shared last night.

  How he’d cupped my cheeks in his large, warm hands and bent down and barely—so quick it was over before I could fully enjoy the moment—brushed his lips over mine.

  “Good night,” he murmured into my ear.

  “You don’t want to come in?” I asked, hopeful and yet nervous.

  Aidan stepped back, dropped his hands from my cheeks to my hands, and shook his head. “Not on a first date. I told you I wanted to do it right this time.”

  Then he left, leaving me falling in love with him more than I already had been.

  “Sorry,” I told Camden, and dragged my eyes off the bleachers. “I was just thinking about Aidan.”

  “Again?”

  I grinned. “Shut up.”

  “You love him.” She stated it as matter-of-factly as Camden stated everything else in life. But she hadn’t been shocked when I’d called her early this morning, packed the bags I had used when I’d stayed with her, and brought everything back to my own house.

  It was time I stopped hiding.

  Time to stop being so worried. Giving Aidan a second chance meant giving myself one as well.

  “I do.” I smiled, biting my bottom lip again, and I couldn’t help how my mind wandered to Aidan once more.

  “Ugh. You’re doing it again.” She scolded me, but her voice was light with teasing. When I looked over, Camden rolled her eyes. Her left foot kicked out to the side and she playfully hit me in the butt, almost making me trip on the rubber track.

  Then she took off and I sprinted to chase her. I was barely on her heels as she veered off the track at the open gate and we finished the half-mile run back to my house at full speed.

  Gasping for breath, my fingers laced behind my head so I could calm my breathing, I walked in a large circle around my front yard, trying to cool down.

  Camden collapsed onto the grass, arms and legs splayed as if she were trying to make snow angels in May.

  “You’re going to get a cramp,” I said, smiling down at her. It wasn’t often Camden let loose, and even though it was just a run, it was nice to see her not so uptight and without her auburn hair fixed in a tight bun at the base of her neck.

  “I’m going to die before the cramps hit.”

  I walked over and tapped her playfully in the ribs, returning the favor from earlier. “Get up. I’ve got cupcakes.”

  “Oh!” She scrambled to her feet and rushed to my front door. I stood back, laughing at her speed. We shared a love for Kate’s Kakes. “Double fudge?”

  “It’s like you know me,” I replied, reaching my kitchen where Camden had already dug through my cupboards and found my stash of chocolaty goodness.

  “Suzanne called me last night,” she said around a mouthful of decadent fudge.

  “Did she tell you that she’s pregnant?”

  Camden’s mouth dropped open. “How’d you know?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Come on, we’ve known each other forever, and not only has Suzanne been hinting for the last year that she wants a baby, she didn’t have a drop of the margaritas the other night.”

  She frowned, staring at her cupcake as if it’d suddenly sprouted wings. “She was afraid to tell you.”

  “I know, but it’s not necessary, and you guys hiding your good news from me like that, knowing I’ll never get to make that announcement, doesn’t make me feel better. Don’t hide the good shit from me.”

  I pointed a finger at her, scolding her, and Camden looked away. “Got it?”

  “Got it.” She nodded and took another huge bite.

  Around a mouthful of my own cupcake, I asked, “Should we take her out to celebrate tonight?”

  “Fireside?”

  “Of course,” I said, unwrapping the paper from my second cupcake. Thank goodness I loved to run.

  Camden flashed me a wide grin and reached for her own second helping.

  —

  I adored my friends.

  Being with them at Fireside—country music filtering through the speakers, the sound of pool balls being smacked around the pool table, and the atmosphere at our table filled with lighthearted laughter—made me love them even more.

  After I had called Suzanne earlier in the day and we’d talked about her pregnancy and my date with Aidan, she jumped at the chance to go out and celebrate her news with the rest of us. And after assuring her that I was completely thrilled for her and Jackson—because I was—there was nothing left to do except giggle like schoolgirls when I described my date.

  And that kiss. I still felt it on my lips, even though it was just a “barely there” kind of kiss. I couldn’t forget the way Aidan’s lips felt and tasted, or how his hands held me in a way that made me want to melt right into him.

  The only person unable to join us tonight was Blue. She was busy working some high-society engagement party for the governor’s daughter.

  We were on margarita pitcher number two, taking it easy and drinking more slowly—in part because Suzanne wasn’t helping—when David walked up. He stood between Camden and me and slid a fresh bowl of chips and salsa into the center of our table. As he pulled back, his hand landed on the back of my chair and he gave me one of his easygoing smiles.

  Paige and Suzanne sighed. Based on the dazzled look in Trina’s eyes, she might have as well.

  I wrinkled my nose at their buffoonish behavior and looked at David. “What’s up?”

  “Thank you for helping Aidan.”

  I thought back to our date and bit my lip, unsure how exactly I’d helped him. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

  “Trust me, he hasn’t stopped talking about you all day. Whatever you did last night, it helped.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows, teasing me, and my cheeks flooded with heat. “You guys must gossip worse than girls,” I admonished him.

  David stood up and looked around the table, his eyes stopping momentarily on Ca
mden. “I’ve heard you ladies…there’s no way we’re worse than you.”

  He flashed Camden a wink and whispered something into her ear that I didn’t catch, but her back straightened and her shoulders pulled back.

  With a wave to our table, he stepped away. “See you ladies around.”

  “Man, I love that guy,” Trina said, watching him walk away. How she could think tall, lean, and handsome David was worth watching when she had her large, muscular, and sexy-as-sin Declan in her bed every night I had no clue.

  “What did he say to you?” I asked, leaning in to Camden.

  She swallowed a glass of water, chugging it as if she needed to cool down. “Nothing.”

  “Oh, come on,” Suzanne prodded. “You have to tell us after that reaction.”

  “He thinks I’m pretty.” She waved a hand as if it were nothing and refilled her margarita glass. “Can we move on now?”

  I took in her pinched lips and the tightness in her cheeks.

  “He’s pretty hot.”

  She shot me a glare. “He’s a bartender.”

  Ouch. It sounded harsh, and I knew she hadn’t meant it as badly as that sounded.

  I tried to let it go when Paige said, “Yeah but he’s a hot bartender and he wants in your pants. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  Said the girl who’d been married since she was twenty-two and who had been with only one guy, her husband, Lucas, her entire life.

  I snorted, covering my laugh.

  “Actually, he’s not,” Trina said, her eyes narrowed on Camden in a way I’d never seen.

  I remembered Trina had mentioned he’d helped Declan and her months back when they had gone to Chicago, but she’d never expounded. “What do you mean?”

  Trina slid another glance toward Camden, who didn’t yet look chagrined at her comment in any way, and then shrugged when she turned back to me. “Never mind.”

  “And what do you know about getting into a guy’s pants anyway?” Suzanne teased, taking in the strange moment I just had and turning back to Paige. “You’ve only ever been with Lucas.”

  Paige pouted. “Just because I’ve never participated in one-night stands doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with them.”

  “I’m not sleeping with that guy,” Camden snapped.

  I jerked back and watched as red crept up her neck and her cheeks. Camden hated it when she blushed. Her chest and neck would turn red and blotchy, and I knew she was aware of it this time when her hand covered her exposed throat.

  Leaning in so I didn’t embarrass her further, I whispered, “But the blush says you want to, sweetie.”

  “Shut up.” She grinned, tossing a napkin at me. I threw my head back and laughed. It was cute, and sometimes frustrating, being friends with Camden when she felt like she had to struggle to maintain some sort of “perfect” appearance and life.

  From across the table, I saw a devilish plan taking shape silently in Suzanne’s eyes. Her gears were turning as she looked to Camden and then swiveled slightly in her chair to get a better glimpse of David at the bar.

  From the way she grinned, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, I knew exactly who was on Suzanne’s “set-up” list next.

  I leaned back, smiling into my drink, and allowed Camden to think we were dropping the subject.

  We moved on to talking about Paige’s job as a teacher, both of us excited that school would be out for summer in just six short weeks when I sensed a change in the atmosphere at our table.

  My back was to the door, but I noticed the way Suzanne grinned, looking behind my shoulder. I turned my head to see what had caught her attention, but I already knew.

  Aidan stopped at the bar and I watched him clasp hands with David before his eyes moved directly to mine and he pushed off the bar with a wink toward David.

  “Girls’ night out?” Aidan asked as he reached our table. One hand went to the back of my chair, and even though he wasn’t touching me, I felt him everywhere.

  I shifted in my seat.

  “Want to join us?” Paige asked sweetly.

  Aidan looked to me and I smiled. “You can; we’re just talking about work and celebrating Suzanne tonight.”

  “What’s to celebrate?” he asked, looking up.

  I hesitated for a moment, we all did, before Suzanne smiled and announced. “I just found out my husband and I are expecting our first child.”

  A sadness flickered in Aidan’s eyes before his hand shifted from the back of my chair to my shoulder. “Congratulations.”

  His thick voice rumbled over me and his hand squeezed.

  I looked up and saw him peering at me, a question in his eyes I couldn’t fully make out.

  “I don’t want to interrupt,” he said, looking at everyone but coming to a stop on me and smiling. “I just wanted to say hello and pick up some dinner Declan made for me.”

  “You can stay and eat,” I told him hesitantly. Not that being around five women would be spectacularly fun for him.

  He shook his head and leaned down, brushing his lips against my cheek. “I’m good. I’ll talk to you later?”

  “Yeah.” I sighed when he pulled back. “Sounds good.”

  “You taking a cab home? I can come back and get you.”

  “I’m driving tonight,” Suzanne said, and my head gave a slight jerk.

  I blushed. I’d just forgotten all my friends were at the table watching us, even though we’d been talking about them.

  “Nine months of a guaranteed designated driver, we’re totally taking advantage of it, too.” Paige grinned and lifted her glass as if to say “cheers.”

  “Don’t mind them,” I whispered. “My friends are insane.”

  “Your friends are great. Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.”

  I grinned and said goodbye. Then, five sets of eyes watched him walk to the kitchen, and when Paige sighed and mumbled something about all our men having the best asses, I giggled right along with her. When he came out a few minutes later holding a white bag filled with take-out containers, he didn’t stop by, but I was certain, based on his grin and the coloring in his cheeks, he was well aware of being on the receiving end of our female appreciation.

  I squirmed in my chair, flashed him a wave goodbye when he winked in my direction, and then sank into my seat, flushed and heated and tingly all over.

  “You liiiike him,” Paige sang in my ear once he was gone.

  I gave her a sly grin, before taking a sip of my drink. “Shut up.”

  Next to me, Camden snorted. “Like is a severe understatement.”

  I finished my drink, not responding.

  There was nothing to say when she was absolutely right and already knew it.

  Chapter 21

  Home safe.

  I pressed Send on my phone and climbed into bed.

  We’d only stayed for another hour after Aidan had left, and it wasn’t too late, but my body was warm from tequila. Even though I’d only had a few drinks my eyes felt barely half open.

  My phone buzzed on my nightstand and I smiled before reaching over and reading Aidan’s response. I expected a simple good night, but his reply made me smile.

  Can you talk?

  I didn’t answer by texting. I pressed the phone icon next to his name and started laughing when he answered before I even heard his phone ring.

  “Are you okay?” he asked immediately.

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  I heard him sigh and imagined him running his hands through his hair. “With Suzanne’s baby announcement, I was worried about you.”

  My heart flipped inside my chest. That was what his sadness was about at the restaurant? “I thought you got sad when she mentioned it because of Derrick.”

  “I did. But I thought of you, too. It can’t be easy for you.”

  I was quiet for a minute, stunned into silence as my pulse fluttered inside my ears.

  “Chelsea?”

  I shook off the daze.
“Yeah, I…I’m good. I’m just surprised, I guess, that you’d think of that.”

  He exhaled a breath into the phone, and when he spoke, he took of breath mine with him. “I think that’s why I was so pulled to you in the beginning…at the wake that night. You seemed to understand my loss, I suppose, more so than anybody.”

  My own voice quivered. “It’s not the same thing.”

  “I know,” he said, his voice gruff. “But you know loss in a way many people don’t, and that makes it similar.”

  “Aidan.”

  He coughed, breaking the heaviness of the moment. Right then I wanted to say, I love you so much, come be with me.

  But the moment was gone, and tension crackled through the phone when he cleared his throat, changing the subject.

  “What are you doing right now?”

  I shifted under my covers into a more comfortable position. “I’m in bed, talking to you.”

  “In bed?” His voice lifted.

  “Um, yes?” I said, suddenly shy but not fully understanding why. My skin began buzzing and I could feel my previously tired body awaken as Aidan asked, “What are you wearing?”

  A brittle laugh escaped my lips. “Are we doing this?”

  “Trust me, Chelsea, I’d like nothing more than to be there with you, touching you myself, but I promised we’d take this slow.”

  I wasn’t sure phone sex was taking anything slowly. I felt exposed in a way I’d never experienced before.

  “A tank top and underwear,” I whispered anyway, despite my nerves running rampant.

  My hips rolled under the comforter, suddenly seeking some type of friction and relief.

  “You?” I asked.

  He grunted and I heard a shuffling sound. “Nothing. Now.”

  Oh my gosh. Wetness seeped into my boyshorts and my thighs pressed together.

  “Aidan…”

  “Touch yourself.”

  My hands shook and I glanced at the phone, afraid I’d hung up on him. But the time was still counting on the phone call so I bit my lip, sighing.